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May 9, 2011 | 01:07

Israel marks memorial day

May 9 - Sirens ring across Israel to mark memorial day, which is then observed with a two minute silence. Simon Hanna reports.

TRANSCRIPT +

For two minutes, life comes to a standstill for residents of Israel.
Sirens ring out across the country to signal Memorial Day, prompting Israelis to stand in still silence and remember the dead.
Men, women and children stop whatever they are doing to commemorate soldiers killed in battle, and civilians who lost their lives in attacks on the Jewish state.
And as Israeli citizens mark the occasion, so too do their leaders.
In Jerusalem Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres and the country's military chiefs attended a ceremony.
As part of the proceedinds, Peres lit the memorial flame with a widow of a fallen soldier.
Memorial ceremonies take place during the day and at sundown Israel launched celebrations nationwide to mark its 63rd Independence Day.
Simon Hanna, Reuters.

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